Police later said on Twitter that the attacker had been “neutralized” and taken to hospital.

Visitors inside the cathedral at the time of the incident were not allowed to leave.

Karine Dalle, a spokeswoman for the Paris diocese, told BFM TV that 900 people were inside the cathedral as police secured the area.

A photo posted on Twitter showed cathedral visitors raising their hands, reportedly at the instruction of police.

French counterterrorism authorities have opened an investigation into the incident, according to the French Prosecutor’s Office.

Notre Dame Cathedral is one of the most popular tourist sites in Paris, attracting an estimated 13.6 million visitors a year.

France has been under a state of emergency since November 2015, when terrorist attacks left 130 people dead in Paris.

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